Chair hinge



Oct. 28, 1930. JOHNSON 1,779,738

CHAIR HINGE Filed Nov. 10, 1927 rocking parts is arrested immediatel the liinge assumes its normal neutral position;

" Thisinvention frelatesin general to hinges; and has more particular reference to a hinge;- construction adapted for use-on a chair.

Patented Oct. 28, 1930 Amman Johnson; oF' 'o'An'f P1933, II'JLi oIs;

7 011x1 Hin s; Y

Application? filed -lt'tvember" 10,. 1-9 2 75 seri l 1m esassti- Oneoftheimportant objects of my res;

entinvention is to provide a*no vel hinge con-y structed, and arranged to normallytend to return to. a neutral-position after displacement in? either direction and arranged so; thatwhen -rocked in either direction, it Will return toitsnormahcehtral position. in a minimumof time? andswithout noise created by continued vibration or, chattering of the 7 parts, as-theycome to -rest,r-means beingip'rm vided to arrest the motion ot, the rockihg l part-simmediately the gneutra-l" position: is reached-to-thus prevent vibration back and forth pasttlie neutral-(point; w I

Another important ob'ect of my present invention i is to provide a hinge of compact size suitable for-"mounting in a? restricted space. j

7 Another important object of :m present invention is to 'provideaitwo-way resilient hinge particularly adapted for use in mount ing c'hair backs; such asthe 'backs of stenogT-j: raphers chairs in brdertdholdthe chair back resiliently=- in a normal position and; to per; mit of its displacement freelyineither d irection, but which :Will instantlyrestore the chair back-t0 its normal position 'Without anv; vibration or; chattering, whatsoever. I

1 Still another important object of my press ent-inventionfis to provide a hinge char'ac= teri'zedby the fact; that Whentheparts are relatively displaceditr'omnormal position and released the rocking movement of the parts in returning to normalfposition is damped so that continued vibration andchattering of the parts is prevented; and' tliemotion'o-f the 7 A turtherimportant object is toprovide a simple, sturdy and reliable hinge of rugged; compact construction, which is easy and inexpensive to produce. ,7 c

Numerous other"advantages of my" present invention'will be apparent;- as it is more'fiilly' understood from the following disclosure which, taken in connectionvvith the accoman ing 'drawin bodiment'of nay inventionL v Beferring to'tlie drawings? Figure 1' imiside elevationjjof the up er? ortion of a chairj'hawingjah'ihg embodi'fi ingfmy present invention"; v i F'gure 2 is a; sectioIiaI vieW enough the gS, disclosesa re rial-rad an;

a section on th'e'line 2 2of Figure Figu e 3 is; a transverse? sectional view raphers chairs, torjexampjle'; andfis v pivoted approximately; at its f center to the mak up: 1501152.

: he -pivotingus' efqijired of? bracket 31 attachedtothe back rest; anti? vofi allyjjoinedto a" brackefi attacliedtofthebaclf first-me my invention"fliaye'fshovvn;

1 v input-2Z Th backrest 1 y E f h ,typeusedfon steifogg;

3)j consists of a plate having? a ertures through which: screvvs' Inayj passageway enter the backsupport orback 'lfo'ftftfe. chair: This plate 3' has" a pai'rot{invvardlyturned ears; 5; A similar'p'late .GiSjattaclied to the backsupp'ort 2" and is provided with pair of'outvvardlytu-rned em 7. '111e 'ea'lst ar'ryv a Sleeve 8 and a :p'jin'tle pin a 9 passes" tlfrougli the ears'and throughjtli'egsleeve 8? p It is to be noted arti'cul rlytliaitfrocking stops 1 0 and 11 "are pivota'lly mounte'd'fupon' the sleevef8;I-as'sh'ovvn a timflarIyinFig ires 2 and; 3. These rockjifi stbps-havesliouldered portions 10f and lijvvhich' ontacti with? are plate 3 under normal condi-tiofisjand also have shouldered portions -10"""and 11" which con:

Eurtherfthan-this, each-of tlierocling lstops' 60 through'tliehingeistructuresuchview-come I" spending approximaitelyj tb "section" on; the

forces the rocking lugs or stops and 11 in opposite directions about the axis of the pivot pin and causes engagement of the shoulders 10' and 11, and 10" and 11 with their corresponding plates 3 and 6. If, however, the back of the chair is displaced, for

example, assume that-the upper portion is ,displaced rearwardly, the rocking lug or stop 10 is rocked about the pivot point, whereas the member 11 is not disturbed. When pressure is removed, the spring acting through the rocking member 10 urgesthe;

v back into its neutral position, and when it arrives in this position,- the shoulder 10" contacts with. the plate ,6 and the back is not urged'further. In addition to this, at this instant, the plate 8contacts with the shoulder ll of the rocking stop or lug llan'd' thus 7, the back is restrained against'rocking bel before coming to rest.'.. 1 so yond its neutral"position. Thei restraining force is applied not ina gradual mannerfbut with practically full strength" at the instantthat theeffectjis' needed, andthus vibration of the chair back or chattering is substantially eliminated. In otherwords,.the chair back swings back to its neutral position and stops in this position'without "noticeable'vi bration. It, does. not, vibrate] ba ck and forth t is obvious that if the back is displaced;

in the opposite direction from that described,'.

the lug 11; will operate in identically .the same manner as that describedjforjlug 10.

1 Upon release of the displacing p'res'surej thef back will return to its neutral position and willzinst an'tlytop and remain; resiliently? supported without fvibrationor chattering}? "1 The hinge also may be'cheaply-and easily I assembled and may bere'adi'ly applied to the chair without ma'rring' or njuring the 'sup port, Moreover, the hinge iscompact'and for this reason can be convenientlymounted within'the "confines of, the single back support, which is usually provided in jchairsof It should be noted also e in Figure 2, Obviously, eitherthe back supportor the back could be provided this cutout.

The reactive spring means which is located within the vertical marginal confines of the plates 3 and 6 of the hinge'serves to hold the back .rest l in balanced, substantially vertical position with respect tofthe central upright f 2. -This spring means exerts ,a yielding pressure on the spinal column of the person sitting in the chair, at points both above and below the aXis 9 about which the chair back pivots so that in all sitting postures the spine will be held in normal position.

Although the invention has been described inconsiderable detail, such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting as the invention maybe variously" embodied and as the scope of such invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim: i v '12 In a hinge, the combination of a pair 0 members, a pivot, means pivotally connecting'said-niemberstoisaid pivot whereby to permit relative rocking movement ofthe said members in eitherdirectioma pair of rocking lugs mountedto said pivot, resilient means urging said rocking lugsin opposite diriec tions about said p vot, saidhrocking lugs having [each af shoulder adapted to engage one otsa1d members and having each a second shoulder arranged to engage the otherofsaid members whereby when said members are rotatedgrelatively about. saidpivot in either direction, each lug engages one, member only.

j 2. a hinge, the combination of apair; of members, a pivot, means pivotally con necting said members to'said 'pivotwhereby to permit'relativel-rocking movement of said members in e1ther:direct1on,*a pair'of rock-i ing lugs mounted to saidpivot, resilient; means urging said rocking lugs in opposite directions. about said pivot, said rocking lugs each having a'shoulder engaging one of said members and having each a second shoulder engaging the other of said members whereby when said; members are relatively "rotated about said pivot in one direction, eachlug en'-.

gages one'membe'r only "so thatwhen the parts returnto normal position, said second members may engage thelr correspondlngmem inlneutral position.

3.;Ina hinge, the combination of a pair of members, a pivot, means pivotally connecting saidmembers to said pivot wherebyto' permit relative rocking movement of the said members in either direction, apair of rocking lugs-mounted to said pivot, resilient means urging said rocking lugs in opposite directions about said pivot, said rocking lugs ber s to arrest the return motionof the parts having each a shoulderadapted rto engage one of said-members and having each a second shoulder adapted to engage the other of said members whereby when said members are relatively rotatedwabout' said pivot in eitherdirection, each memberis engaged by one rocking lugonly'so that saidmembers are urged to return to the neutral position and whereby when said members assume normal position,eachjj-member will be engaged by a shoulder of the rocking lug-from which it was vpreviously disengaged, so thatthd return motion oi the parts" may {be arrested'in the neutral position;

4. In a hinge, apivot, a pair of plates having projecting lugs mounted to said pivot whereby the plates may be relatively rotated vabout the pivot, a pair of rocking members mountedto said pivot and having oppositely extending shoulders, one of said plates having an aperture through which a shoulder of each rocking member extends to normally engage said plate, said rocking members having feet normally abutting the other of said plates and resilient means tending to rock said members in opposite directions about said pivot.

5. In a hinge for connecting the backrest Q of a stenographers chair to a single central upright, the combination of a plate adapted for connection to the central upright and arranged to extend within the Vertical lateral confines thereof, a second plate adapted'for attachment to the back rest and pivoted to the first mentioned plate about a horizontal axis and coiled spring means for normally urgand arranged yieldingly to hold the back ing said second mentioned plate toward a position substantially parallel to said first mentioned plate, when the same is displaced about said pivot in either direction'from said neue tral position.

6. In a hinge for connecting the backrest of a stenographers chairvto a singlecentral upright, the combination of a plate adapted for connection to the central upright and arfrom said neutral ranged to extend Within the lateral vertical o confines thereof,a second plate arranged in a plane normally parallel therewith and adapted for attachment to the back rest and pivoted to the first mentioned plate by a single pivot pin and oppositely acting spring means located within the lateral confines of said plates and capable of urging the second plate toward a neutral position with respect to the first plate when the second plate is displaced position in either direction. v

7. In a hinge construction for connecting the back rest of a stenographers chair to a relatively narrow central upright, a relatively narrow plate having its vertical marginal portions lying within thevertical lateral confines of the central upright, said vertical marginal portions of said plate having inwardly bent portions to provide opposed ears, said ears having registering perforations, a second plate having inwardly bent portions providing a pair of opposed ears formed with registering perforations, said plates being adapted to receive fastening means through the upright and through the back rest respectively, thevears .of said two plates being arranged in overlapping relation and a horizontal pin passing through the perforations of said ears pivotally to interconnect the back rest to the central upright, and reactive resilient means disposed between said plates within the lateral confines of said inturned ears and constructed 

